Motorsports

Rick Carelli perfectly qualified to be Kurt Busch's spotter

Rick Carelli and wife Cathy reside in North Carolina, where both work in motorsports. (Associated Press file)

Because there is downtime on the NASCAR Sprint Cup spotters' stands, Rick Carelli's fellow spotters sometimes delve into the online archives to learn more about his career as a driver ... and get more ammunition to tease him.

There, they come across information about when Carelli, now the spotter for Kurt Busch and the Stewart-Haas team, was a young Colorado star at such places as Lakeside Speedway, where the weekend races were a hotter attraction for many than the famous Cyclone roller coaster. They also note how Carelli moved on to become well-known on the regional and even national circuits before he suffered serious injuries in a crash in Memphis, Tenn., during a 1999 Craftsman Truck Series race, then successfully returned to the track the next year but retired from driving in 2004.

After the 1973 release of the Clint Eastwood movie of the same name, Carelli was known as the "High Plains Drifter." Now, many years later, he accepts the razzing from others on the Cup circuit and confesses he now has a shortened nickname: "HPD."

Carelli, 59, is in his second season as Busch's spotter, and he moved with the controversial driver from the Denver-based Furniture Row Racing team to the Stewart-Haas team this season.

Does Carelli miss driving?

"All the time. It's easier than what I'm doing now," he joked in a phone interview this week from his home in Kernersville, N.C., near Winston-Salem.

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Busch won the Sprint Cup title in 2004, then was fired by Roush Racing in 2005 and Penske Racing in 2011, mainly because of off-track clashes with other drivers and media members. After one year with the one-car Furniture Row Racing team, Busch moved on to drive an added fourth car for the Stewart-Haas team — and took Carelli with him.

Busch is coming off a busy Sunday, when he finished sixth as a rookie in the Indianapolis 500, driving for Michael Andretti's team, then rushed to the Charlotte, N.C., area for the Sprint Cup's Coca-Cola 600 and was knocked out of the race by a blown engine after 271 of the 400 laps.

Carelli wasn't with Busch at Indianapolis, because that was an Andretti team operation. But Carelli was watching intently — spotting — when Busch's attempt to finish the double ended.

"I feel we had a decent car," Carelli said, then noted Busch had to start at the back of the pack because he hadn't arrived on time for the drivers' meeting. "We cycled through it, and then we had a misfortune on pit row where the 17 car (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) ran into the side of us and ruined the shock, and after that, the motor went south."

Next up is Sunday's Fed Ex 400 in Dover, Del. Despite one win, in the STP 500 at Martinsville, Va., in March, Busch is a disappointing 28th in the driver standings.

Busch and Carelli hit it off from the start, in part because as a fiery former driver, Carelli understood both the realities of the track and was in tune with Busch's perfectionism and his inability to hide his disdain for those he believed deserved it.

"During the race, you're just an extension of the driver's arms," Carelli said. "You're working with the driver and the crew chief, relaying information back-and-forth."

Busch won at Martinsville in controversial style when he and Brad Keselowski feuded both on the track during the race, then after it. It started with a collision on pit road. Busch's tirade at Keselowski over the radio after the pit road collision drew much attention, and Carelli calmed him down — well, to a point.

"Keselowski tried to hit us and junk like that, but we went on to prevail," Carelli said.

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